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Join Thunder Club

You can help Trine University on its quest to scale the rankings of the top academic and athletic institutions in America by joining Thunder Club.

During the past five years, we have participated in three NCAA tournaments in football and four NCAA tournaments in softball. On an individual level, we have had two NCAA All–American wrestlers, and one NCAA National Champion in track.

As we look ahead to our student–athletes in competition, we are facing strong challenges as we compete with other programs in the MIAA and the nation. To continue our aggressive rise, we must push the envelope with facilities and recruiting.

We are proud of our athletic history, and together, we look forward to the challenge of becoming a NATIONAL POWER in NCAA DIII athletics. Big things are coming. Go Thunder!

2012 Fall Sports Preview

Football
The 2012 Thunder athletic season will kick off when the football team hosts Manchester under the lights on Aug. 30. Seventh–year head coach Matt Land will look to senior quarterback Ryan Hargraves to lead a powerful offense that returns eight starters, including All–MIAA First Team wide receiver Ja Vontae Hence.

On the other side of the ball, the Thunder defense returns seven starters. Leading the defense will be All–North Region Second Team defensive back junior Myron Puryear. Linebacker and second–leading tackler Ben Mohr will lead the defense in the middle.

Men’s Golf
Men’s golf coach Bill SanGiacomo enters his 42nd year as the longest tenured golf coach in Division III. With a large squad and All–MIAA Second Team senior Pat Wolcott returning, SanGiacomo looks to swing the Thunder to the MIAA championship, after just missing it the last two seasons. The team looks to make a push after finishing less than five strokes out of first place in each of the last three seasons.

The team will hit the green Aug. 31 for the two–day Olivet Invitational. Then, they will host a jamboree match on Sept. 22 and the Ken Venturi Invitational on Sept. 28.

Men’s Soccer
After their best finish in the MIAA, the first-year men’s soccer coach Trevor Ferrell will need to rebuild around a young core of underclassmen and the leadership of three seniors. Andre Hilson and Curtis Holcom, last year’s second and third leading scorers, will return to lead the offensive charge. Sophomore Chris Stewart will enter the season as the goalie after seeing only 43 minutes of action in 2011.

The squad will open the season at a two–day tournament at Transylvania before returning to host the annual Ketner Classic Sept. 7–8. The conference schedule begins Sept. 15 when Trine hosts Kalamazoo.

Volleyball
After finishing last season with a 15–13 mark, just their second winning season since 1999, the women’s volleyball team finished fourth in the conference and qualified for the conference tournament. The team tallied six straight wins, tying a school record. Rising seniors Betsy Irwin and Sarah Radekin and the sophomore duo of Carly Searles and Melanie Troyer will step up after solid campaigns for the Thunder.

The volleyball team will open the season on the road at the Ohio Northern Invitational. The conference schedule begins at home against Saint Mary’s Sept. 4. The squad will travel to tournaments in Marietta, Ohio, and Washington D.C.

Women’s Soccer
After winning their first conference game since 2004, the women’s soccer team looks to improve this season. The team will rely heavily upon underclassmen and lone senior Ruth Feliciano. The team returns second–leading scorer sophomore Trisha King, who tallied four goals. After playing in all 20 games and making 10 starts last season, sophomore Amy Williams will look to become an offensive powerhouse for the Thunder.

The team will start on the road at Olivet Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 and Thomas More Sept. 8–9. Their schedule begins at home against Albion Sept. 19.

Women’s Golf
The women’s golf team looks to qualify for the four–team spring championship after finishing sixth last season. Coach Van Brandt’s squad will feature a lineup that did not lose a senior from last spring. Jennifer Sir Louis led the squad in the fall with an average of 94.8 in the six MIAA Jamborees. Lauren Burns also finished in the MIAA’s Top 40 with a stroke average of 98.5.

After hosting the 2012 NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championship in May, the women will host one tournament, which will also start their season, Sept. 4 in the Trine Kick–off Classic.

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country
After bringing in the largest recruiting class in the program’s history, Coach Charlie Massi’s men’s and women’s cross country teams look to pick up where they left off after the 2011 season.

The men’s cross country team finished just outside the top four at the MIAA championships last season. Seniors Matt Burgess and Corbin Buckler will lead the team, with Michael Becker, Sam Gray, Brandon Long, JD Morris and Ethan Fry and a strong freshman class backing them.

The women’s squad returns everyone from the team from last season year. Senior captains Sannie Anderson and Annalisa Krug will direct the team. The women look to improve on their eighth–place finish at the MIAA championships.

The two squads will open their competitive seasons at the Olivet Invitational Aug. 31. Runners will compete at the prestigious Indiana Intercollegiate Meet on the Indiana University campus and the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational at Loyola University.

Men’s and Women’s Tennis
For the first time since joining the MIAA, the men’s and women’s tennis teams will compete during the fall season.

Led by two–time All–MIAA First Team honoree senior Dan Desper the men’s team looks to continue last season’s success. Fellow senior David Murray led the team with 16 singles matches wins last season. Junior Nick Ihrie also returns after capturing 16 wins in the spring.

The women hope to continue their success from the spring, after picking up their first conference win in four years and finishing with six wins. All players are returning, including All–MIAA First Team player junior Jessica Huhnke. Prior to being the school’s first ever All–MIAA honoree, Huhnke rattled off 11 straight wins and finished the year 15–3 in singles action.

Both teams will begin their season at Indiana Tech on Sept. 11. The women’s team will also compete in the two–day MIAA Flighted Tournament Sept. 21–22.

New faces on the pitch/turf/floor

Tom Knudson – Director of Track and Cross Country
Fort Wayne native Thomas Knudson will take the helm of Trine’s track and field program, after successfully coaching runners at the high–school level for 27 years. He served as the head coach at both North Side High School and Northrop High School, both in Fort Wayne.

Among many other accomplishments, he was inducted into the Indiana Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2010. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ball State University, where he ran cross country. He earned his master’s degree from Indiana University. In 1977, he participated in the U.S. Marathon National Championships in St. Louis, Mo.

Andy Rang – Assistant Athletic Director
Andy Rang begins his first year as assistant athletic director. He began working at the collegiate level in 2002 as Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne’s director of basketball operations. He also led successful coaching campaigns at South Side High School and North Side High School in Fort Wayne.

He led summer basketball camps for Division I and NAIA schools and created junior basketball programs that served hundreds of elementary–aged children annually. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Huntington University and a Master of Science in Education from Walden University in Baltimore, Md.

Shea Chambers – Cheer and Dance Coach
Shea Chambers begins her first year as cheerleading and dance coach after three seasons of cheering for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. She was a Division I cheerleader and captain for Bowling Green State University, where she earned a degree in journalism broadcasting.

She has coached and choreographed nationally recognized teams for more than 10 years. She was also a part of Universal Cheerleaders Association during her collegiate career. She is currently finishing her master’s degree in public relations.

Steve Mix – Women’s Basketball
Steve Mix begins his first season as the head women’s basketball coach after more than 25 years of coaching, scouting and broadcasting experience and 13 years of professional basketball experience. Mix was a forward with a 13–year career from 1969–1972 and from 1973–1983. He played for the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers all of the NBA and the Denver Rockets of the ABA.

Mix served as the assistant director of the Toledo Elite Women’s AAU Program. He is the owner and president of Steve Mix Basketball Academy and Camps and the president of Find a Way, a nonprofit organization that helps Toledo Public School athletes.

Ryan Gould – Men’s/Women’s Tennis
Ryan Gould begins his first year as head men′s and women′s tennis coach in the fall of 2012. He comes to Trine from Fort Wayne’s Snider High School where he coached girl’s basketball for seven years. He was the women′s tennis coach at Grace College for two seasons and the women′s assistant basketball coach.

Gould played collegiate tennis for three years at Grace College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. He played both singles and doubles, was a district doubles champion in 1998 and was team captain.

Jeannine Ravellette – Women′s Lacrosse
Jeannine Ravellette comes to Trine with over nine years of softball coaching experience at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels. She began her collegiate coaching career in the 2002 as an assistant softball coach at Division I Bradley University, then spent five years as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State.

Ravellette was an assistant at Division II Ferris State University for over three years. Her main responsibilities off of the field were to oversee recruiting, academics, coordinate travel and administrative matters of the program.